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Amaranth
"The Flower of the Wastes", Amaranth is a vestigial empire that once dominated the floodplains along the river Thoran. The pink stony city straddled both banks where the river flowed into the sea, its gold capped pyramids could be seen for long miles and its walls were terraced with gardens. Countless poleboats, pleasure barges, cogs, skiffs, and galleys were moored in its twin harbors. They tended to set many of the fashions seen in Tiberium (women baring both breasts, for instance). The Amaranthines planted their crops when the river flooded its banks and learned how to harness its flow by building an intricate system of levies and dams, pumps, drains, fountains, aqueducts, and canals. They redirected streams to irrigate the parched desert and watered terraced gardens. Naturally they leveraged their power over the river, enslaving other tribes and putting them to work in their fields and homes or building the great, pink ziggurats that dominate the city's skyline. Slave trading and training became their chief occupation and they supplied many empires, Tiberium being the largest. When the Ecumene abolished slavery the Amaranthines were a client-state, having submitted bloodlessly millennia ago. Abolition became a crisis as slave revolts were barely being suppressed When the Legions finally intervened it was not on the behalf of the masters - nor were their motives compassionate. Amaranth was the largest oasis in Outremer, a flat wasteland of dunes and rock, scoured by wind and sand and blasted by the Sun. It also dictated trade with Yavanna and Hue along the river Thoran, and cultivated the rare "Dreamsage", a narcotic lotus that was in demand in Tiberium. Abolition was merely a convenient pretext for war. The War of the Long Thirst After a few disastrous battle in the open (where the Masters' slave armies were betrayed by the mercenaries they had hired) the Amaranthines holed up in their city. With a steady supply of fresh water, fish, and the last of their harvest they could have waited out even the longest siege, feasting within sight of the Legions camped beyond their walls. However, the Legions were not so easily deterred and dammed each of the Thoran's main tributaries, bleeding the river dry while blockading the city's ports. Again the Masters were forced to submit. Ever since the Ecumene retained control over the river and taxed its flow; the Amaranthines had to build canals to hold off the encroaching desert and each year brought diminishing returns on their harvests. Even when the Tiberians left the river was but a trickle of its old glory, and gradually Amaranth's colonies were swallowed by the sands. Slavery After the collapse of Tiberium Amaranth's Masters were keen to bring back slavery, even if it had persisted in all but name. Their slaves were "happy"; they could keep their families, were often educated and skilled, and their status was comparable to indentured servants. Courtesans are still bound to the city's pleasure houses and Jannisaries remain an elite bodyguard for the Masters, even though the city now depends on mercenary tribes for protection (themselves being former slaves). Resources: Although they no longer catered to great empires the Amaranthines still produce many luxuries (dyes, slaves, and dreamsage) as well as a veritable cornucopia of food (cattle, fish, fowl, wine, rice). Their high denomination coins are red gold and copper. Their floodplains are home to life not seen anywhere else in Outremer; water buffalo, elephants, rainbow fish, birds of paradise, giant turtles, heron, crocodiles, gazelle, and even monkeys. Influences The Greek "Amarantos" means "unfading flower"; in Sanskrit it translates to "immortal"